Why would Philly do that? They can probably win the Stanley cup with the team they have, especially with Chicago looking very beatable now. I doubt this trade rumor has any legs.

Also from Lebrun:Real_ESPNLeBrun "To follow up on @helenenothelen's scoop, source from Kovalchuk's camp confirms to ESPN.com that Kings are out.about 5 hours ago"

It sounds like they might be out, unless Lebrun and espn are also part of this rumored publicity stunt.In that case, I'd expect Kovy to sign somewhere early tomorrow. If he doesn't sign tomorrow, this is probably a very large publicity stunt.

It could be good for Philly if you look at the logistics. Carter is another center on a team STACKED with talented centers (Richards, Briere, Giroux, and someone else who i'm forgetting that they had playing wing I think) and Gagne is aging and taking up a ton of space, cap-wise, so this trade would essentially get them Simmonds who I think is great player who is only getting better a first round pick AND they replace gagne with Kovalchuk. Carter would be a huge piece for the Devils who are thin at that position, but in Philly he has become expendable. Decent trade both ways considering those factors.

Nice to see all this LA being "out" stuff is being confirmed by high up sources (LeBrun and Lombardi himself) but I would have to agree it is definatly possible they are using that a publicity thing to try and get Kovie to stop shopping the offers back and forth, but still I think that is better for NJ because if LA has a static offer the Devils can match or beat it and, assuming they stick by their "done with this" statement, they wouldn't try to counter offer again .

I'm thinking we see a Kovie signing in NJ headline tommorow and I'm gonna be real excited for it if I do.

Is it possible that Lou has asked Kovalchuk to wait for a period of time to see if he can clear enough space for him and that this is why Kovalchuk's camp is giving everyone else the run-around in the meanwhile?

Is it possible that Lou has asked Kovalchuk to wait for a period of time to see if he can clear enough space for him and that this is why Kovalchuk's camp is giving everyone else the run-around in the meanwhile?

I don't really think so because Lou can just sign him right now and then clear cap space afterward.

I think the Devils said we'll give you "X" which isn't high enough for Kovy who probably wants 10M/season - and he's not getting that offer from anywhere - probably not even close to it. So he's in a bind.

I don't really think so because Lou can just sign him right now and then clear cap space afterward.

Yes, but there's a difference from Lou's perspective on his bargaining position with other teams if he is perceived as being more desperate to clear cap space because he's already over rather than not being in a forced position.

I'm getting kind of worried that we're going to sign Kovalchuk to a ridiculous contract (which I consider $8 million/year and up). I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize Parise's future with this club, and I know that people will argue "but with Arnott of the books next summer, we can use that money plus what Parise almost makes to lock him up as well," but I just don't see Lou locking up $15/16 million in two players. Even though cap-wise it is doable, I sincerely think it comes down to Parise or Kovalchuk long-term, and I would much rather have Zach.

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Proud winner of the 2009-10 NJDevs Conn Smythe Trophy for best poster during the playoffs

Just to clarify, the rumor by LA blogger was Simmonds, a 1st round pick and a prospect for Carter and Gagne (KOVY not involved). With the cap space generated by the trade, Philly would sign Kovy as a free agent.

I'm trying to remeber where I read that Lou offered Kovy 2 yrs @ 6 Mil per. It might have been Dreger's twitter feed. But if that is the case then I'm all for it. The contract would run parallel with Marty's and the cost isn't too high. Kovy would be a UFA again at 29. Anything more than 7 mil and I would rather Lou worked on a trade instead for puck moving D-man and some secondary scoring.

Just to clarify, the rumor by LA blogger was Simmonds, a 1st round pick and a prospect for Carter and Gagne (KOVY not involved). With the cap space generated by the trade, Philly would sign Kovy as a free agent.

I'm trying to remeber where I read that Lou offered Kovy 2 yrs @ 6 Mil per. It might have been Dreger's twitter feed. But if that is the case then I'm all for it. The contract would run parallel with Marty's and the cost isn't too high. Kovy would be a UFA again at 29. Anything more than 7 mil and I would rather Lou worked on a trade instead for puck moving D-man and some secondary scoring.

Єklund (2.3% accurate) (2.3% accurate) was the one that reported it, citing one of his "sources". So yea.

Where did you guys hear he doesn't want to go to Russia? Wasn't he offered $14mil per season for 4 years tax free? He ain't getting anything close to that here so we at least know he doesn't "want" to go to Russia or he would have already, but if the price difference is too much...

Its possbile he takes that contract. There is no market for him at what he is looking for. LA is out, and its only the Devils and maybe the Islanders (which I doubt). But Philly and Colorado are not looking at him, so he may have to settle.

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I was wrong to ever doubt the powers of Lou Lamoriello.
IN LOU WE TRUST @Manta04

Its possbile he takes that contract. There is no market for him at what he is looking for. LA is out, and its only the Devils and maybe the Islanders (which I doubt). But Philly and Colorado are not looking at him, so he may have to settle.

I'm getting kind of worried that we're going to sign Kovalchuk to a ridiculous contract (which I consider $8 million/year and up). I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize Parise's future with this club, and I know that people will argue "but with Arnott of the books next summer, we can use that money plus what Parise almost makes to lock him up as well," but I just don't see Lou locking up $15/16 million in two players. Even though cap-wise it is doable, I sincerely think it comes down to Parise or Kovalchuk long-term, and I would much rather have Zach.

15 mill for two of the best players in the league is reasonable, and still leaves room for other players. Every winning team has two mega-stars in the lineup nowadays.

I agree you can have 2 superstars, however if you compare the Devils and, say, the Penguins, the major difference is that the Devils depth forwards are way overpaid. The Pens have 4 forwards making over $2m, compared to the Devils' 8. There's no way to build the Devils into a great team without dumping one or two of the larger contracts, and that's all going to depend on who's willing to waive the NTC and what Lou's willing to give up to sweeten the deal.